Review: The Doll House by Phoebe Morgan

⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis:

You never know who’s watching…

Corinne’s life might look perfect on the outside, but after three failed IVF attempts it’s her last chance to have a baby. And when she finds a tiny part of a doll house outside her flat, it feels as if it’s a sign.

But as more pieces begin to turn up, Corinne realises that they are far too familiar. Someone knows about the miniature rocking horse and the little doll with its red velvet dress. Someone has been inside her house…

How does the stranger know so much about her life? How long have they been watching? And what are they waiting for…?

Review:

I rate a lot of books 3 stars, yet my 3 star ratings can mean so many different things. In this case it’s that this book was a good debut, but it wasn’t fantastic. As a first novel, I commend Morgan on her skill at writing and building characters, but I didn’t find that the story blew me away.

This is one of those books that has a different perspective for each chapter, and while Dom occasionally popped up for an odd chapter here and there, for the most part it was between the sisters Corinne and Ashley. And, for the first time in a long time, maybe since Gone Girl, I actually really enjoyed reading both perspectives. As I said before, Morgan was really excellent at building each of her characters, so I felt attached to each sister and their plight.

When Corinne starts to receive mystery “gifts” that she believes have come from her childhood doll house, she believes there’s a sinister message behind them. What unfolds is a kind of slow and drawn out explanation as to where these doll house pieces are coming from. The synopsis of this story would have you believe that this book is only about Corinne, but the plot is much deeper than that and incorporates Ashley and the rest of the family.

I found the plot in this book to be similar of other thrillers on the market, and it didn’t astound me. I was much more interested in the characters and their troubled lives than I was with the mystery behind the Doll’s House. I thought that a lot of the methods used to try to distract the reader from the real issue were cheap and easy to see, but maybe that’s because I’m such an avid thriller reader.

When the twist finally revealed itself, I had worked it out long ago and wasn’t thrilled by it. This one started out in my good books, with lots of interesting characters, but, unfortunately, it didn’t do much else for me and so I can’t give it the 4 stars I originally hoped I would.

I can see Morgan’s potential for writing but I can’t say this debut was anything special for me. But, let’s just also note that I’m like the only person not amazed by this book, so it might just be my cynical mind.

Thanks to Netgalley and HQ Digital for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Sometimes I find that I have to take a break from my favorite genres in order to appreciate them better. That might be where you are now… In any case, it’s great that you can see the author’s potential, even if she does have room for improvement in this book!